The horses sleep soundly in their pens in the wooden stable. For these animals, life consists of eating, drinking, carrying their masters around, or pullings things with their powerful muscles. None of them can know anything about the war that is currently tearing apart the nation.Or the war yet to come.The silence is interrupted by a screeching wind, blowing bits of straw and dust around. Then electrical spraks fly about the stable, searing the wood and even setting the hay on fire. The horses wake up and start braying at the sight of the electrical display. Then they see a bright flash of light.Then it is quiet again. In the center of the stable, a figure gets up. The figure has the appearance of a naked man. The naked man appears to be mostly muscle. He examines his surroundings, noting the horses and the burning hay. He identifies it as a stable. He sees in infrared, and can see the heat signatures for the horses and the fire.
A display appears right behind the man's eyes as he checks his system status.

CHECK STATUS

CYBERDYNE SYSTEMS MODEL 101 SERIES 800

ID 381146

MODE READ-ONLY

VISUAL SENSORS OK

AUDIO SENSORS OK

PRESURE SENSORS OK

TEMPERATURE SENSOR OK

SERVO MOTORS OK

SPEAKER OK

MISSION STATUS: INCOMPLETE

He walks out of the stable and checks his surroundings. It is night, and the stars shine clearly upon the ground. He can see a wooden building. A slight breeze blows. The temperature is fifty-eight degrees Fahrenheit.
Then he sees humans come out, armed with longarms. He examines their gray uniforms. Accessing the database, he identifies them as soldiers in the Army of Tennessee.
"Are you all right?" asks one of the soldiers, looking at the naked man. "Who are you?" The soldier looks at the stable, which has caught fire from the electrical discharges.
Then another man comes out, and the naked man looks at the rank insignia and identifies him as a lieutenant. Using his eyes, he measures his size."It's cold out here," says the lieutenant. "We can get you some clothes.""Give me your clothes," says the naked man.
"We don't have much here, but we can get you something to keep you from freezing to death.""Give me your clothes now.""Excuse me, but you could be more po..."The naked man then grabs the lieutenant's throat and squeezes hard. The vertebrae in his neck snap, and the lieutenant falls down, unable to move.
Immedaitely the soldiers fire a hail of bullets at the naked man, who stumbles down. One of them runs to check on the lieutenant.But then the naked man gets up. He grabs the rifle from the soldier and hits him in the temple with enough force to break the skull. The soldiers fire pistol rounds at the naked man, but they do not stop him. He breaks the neck of another soldier. Shocked at what they see, the remaining soldiers get on horses and flee.
The naked man examines the weapons. Accessing his database, he identifies a Richmond Armory percussion rifle-musket, a Richmond Armory carbine, and a J.H. Dance and Brothers revolver. He removes the lieutenant's clothing and places it on his body. No longer naked, the uniform fits, and the insignia will help him in his mission.He then goes into the building. It is a small building with two desks. This place must be an advance outpost for cavalry scouts. He sees a rectabgular piece of paper on the wall. Reading it, he identifies it as a map of Tennessee, made in 1861.
With his uniform and weapons, he heads out to complete his mission.

The gang of bandits sit in their cabin in foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Tennessee. They had just pulled off a robbery, stealing a bunch of gold ingots which now sitting on the floor. They all keep an eye out on each other, as it is too tempting to just take the gold and flee with it.Flashes of light outside startle the three men.
"What the hell?" one of them asks. "Clem, check it out."Clem, a man with a scraggly black beard, opens the door and sees electrical sparks arcoing all over the place, some of them searin gthe wooden cabin. "There's lightning on the ground!" he yells.And then comes a bright flash of light. Clem and the other two bandits look around. They smell a strong odor, the kind that follows thunderstorms.
And they see a tall, imposing, naked man. His muscles look as if he can lift a cannon."Give me your clothes," the naked man says, looking at Clem straight in the eye."Who me?" asks Clem."Give me your clothes."The naked man grabs Clem's and squeezes real hard, and Clem screams out in pain. One of the bandits aim a J.H. Dance and Brothers revolver at the naked man.
the naked man tries to grab the revolver, and the bandit opens fire. The naked man falls.And then gets back up to them and stares the bandit in the eye.Minutes later, the man that had appeared in a shower of electrical sparks is now dressed. He examines his inventory- a J.H. Dance and Brothers revolver, an Enfield rifle, plus the approrpaite ammunition. He walks out to complete his mission.

"Everyone stand still," says the man in the tall black hat. He peers through the camera. "There! That should do it. Thank you for your time, gentlemen. This photograph will be published throughout the state.""You're welcome," says Sergeant Baker of the Confederate Army of Tennessee. "When can you have this published?""In a few days. I'd best be going now." The photographer looks at his handwritten notes, making sure he has the name of the soldiers, as well as the location of the fort. He looks around the place. The buildings are all made of wood, as it was constructed in a few days' time. With the Yanks controlling half of the state of Tennessee, the Army of Tenneessee moved its troops to the eastern part and had to build new fortifications. Tents were erected to provide shelter for the soldiers, and a new building is being constructed. The flag of the Confederate States of America flies proudly from a flagpole. He goes into his darkroom, located inside a horse-drawn wagon, to begin devloping the film. Someday, people all across the Confederate States of America will see the soldiers and their faces. He wonders how many of them will live to see next month.
"Okay you guys!" yells Sergeant Baker. "Now we can have breakfast."The soldiers all go to the mess tent to eat their morning meal, except for one, a corporal."You're not coming?" asks the corporal."I have a before-breakfast meeting with the major, Connor," says Baker."At least he gets eggs and fresh meat. We get to have hard biscuits.""Well, you'd better eat before our boys finish it all."Corporal Luke Connor walks to the mess tent. The food server gives him the typical breakfast, which is a hard biscuit and dried beef. Not exactly the most appealing meal, it was barely enough to keep him alive, and far from the home-cooked breakfasts his mother prepared when he was a boy in Carthage. Today he is to supervise the privates in their duties.Life had settled into a routine for Luke and his unit, consisting of eating, sleeping, maintaining the camp, and training. It had been a month since the Battle of Milton, where five soldiers in his platoon were killed in action. He can not forget their names or their faces, and he never will. He still remembers the battle clearly. The Confederate forces under General Morgan has the Yanks surrounded, and the cannons kept firing. Late in the afternoon, Morgan called off the engagement when it was learned that Yank reinforcements were on the way. Since then, his unit had not seen combat. News spread fast thpough, and he had heard about the Battle of Franklin, which was just four days ago on Friday. Over one hundred Confederates were killed, and the Yanks were left in control of the area.
After breakfast is done, the soldiers begin their work, from picking up trash to cleaning the rifles and muskets and cannons and doing inventory. And inventory is what Corporal Luke Connor is assigned to do.
As he does inventory of the supplies, he notices a man in a gray uniform enter. he can tell the man is an officer, as soldiers salute the man as he walks in. He wonders what happened to the officer's horse, though.
The man in the lieutenant's uniform walks to the building which serves as the headquarters of the officer in charge. He walks in, interrupting a staff meeting. He looks at each and every man, identifying their respective ranks.
"Excuse me, Lieutenant," says the senior officer, a major.
The lieutenant salutes. "Sir, I am from General Van Dorn's office," he says. "I have orders to bring Corporal Luke Connor with me."Major Harold Beckett looks at the lieutenant. He can not help but notice the strange accent of the lieutenant. He did not sound like a Southerner or even a Yank; the lieutenant sounded more like a German or a Russian."Baker!" barks Beckett. "Get Corporal Connor here right now!""Yes, sir," says Baker. He leaves the building.
"Does General Van Dorn have any other business?" asks the major."No, sir," replies the lieutenant. "I am simply to take Corporal Luke Connor with me.""Does he have any further orders for me?""Not as this time.""Here he is, sir," says Sergeant Baker.The lieutenant looks at the young man ina Confederate uniform who was brought here. He has brown hair and eyes. A sideburn and moustache is on his face, making him appear slightly older than his twenty-one years."This man came from General Van Dorn's office," says Major Beckett. "He has orders to bring you to him."Connor salutes the lieutenant. "Corporal Luke Connor, sir," he says."Hello, Corporal," says the lieutenant as he returns his salute.
"Are we leaving now, sir, or do you need supplies for your horse? I can get you."Luke sees the officer pull a revolver from his holster and point it square at his chest. Confused, he wonders what is going on."Get down!" he hears someone yell.Luke turns and sees a man dressed in a hat and coat and pants. He notices that the man looks identical to the lieutenant who just visited here.And this man points a gun in his diurection.Luke gets down even as a shot is fired. He turns and sees the na's military twin fall from the impact of the bullet. The man then runs towards his twin and fires revolver rounds point blank.
Some of the soldiers hear the commotion and get inside the building, aiming their Richmond Armory carbines at the civilian visitor.The strange man grabs Luke's hand. "Come with me if you want to live!" he says.Then his twin dressed in the Army uniform gets up, to the astonishment of Luke, Sergeant Baker, Major Beckett, and the soldiers who responded to the shots fired. The lieutenant aims his revolver at Connor and opens fire.His twin manages to take the bullet, and he falls.
The major and his men all aim their rifles at the lieutenant. "Secure these twins!" yells Beckett.The lieutenant responds by shooting Beckett in the forehead. His shot is answered by a hail of carbine fire. He gets up and then fires the remaining bullets in his revolver at the soldiers.
Luke can see this is no ordinary situation, and he runs with the man who told him to come with him if he wants to live. This strange man is actually pulling him as he runs, and Luke can barely keep balance.
The man in the ;lieutenant's uniform aims the Richmond Armory rifle-musket at his target. He squeezes the trigger and fires, but his twin catches the bullet. He takes the carbine and aims it. But his twin opens fire with the Enfield rifle, and the bullet knocks the carbine from his hand."Get on the horse!" yells the strange man. Luke gets onto a brown stallion which is tied to a post, and then rides off. He then notices the strange man, who appears to be his protector, running along side him.
His twin sees Connor on a horse galloping away. He runs after them with his rifle in hand.then he is knocked down by a hail of bullets. He looks up and sees cavalrymen charging at him with their sabers drawn. He stasnds his groiund and then knocks one of the soldiers off his horse. He then takes the saber and faces the other soldiers, slashing them, casuing blood to spurt out. One by one, he continues thrusting the saber into the soldiers even as they fire pistol and revolver rounds into him. Once the soldiers realize that their enemy is bulletproof, they flee.
The man in the lieutenant's uniform looks around. Connor had escaped.
He decides to run off.

Corporal Luke Connor is now riding in the woods, off the beaten path like his protector had told him.
"He won't spot us here," says his protector."What is going on?" asks the corporal. "I mean, you and he took several bullets and stand like no one was hurt.""Only our organic systems were damaged. Our combat chasses are designed to withstand small-arms fire.""I guess he's trying to kill me.""Yes."Luke looks around the woods, and sees the bright green leaves that revealed themselves for the springtime. He can hear the chirping sounds of small animals.
"What is going on?""You have been targeted for termination.""The Yanks sent someone to kill me? A mere corporal? Why not send someone to kill General Lee? Or Jefferson Davis?""The Yanks did not send him," says his protector. "Skynet did.""Who's Skynet?""Skynet is a computer network that controls machines. Its goal is to exterminate all humans.""What?" asks Luke, having no idea what his protector was talking about.
"Skynet sent the terminator here to kill you.""Terminator?""It is an automated infantry combat unit. Cyberdyne Systems Model 101, Series 800. This terminator is a cyborg-cybernetic organism. On the outside is human flesh, skin, muscle tissue, organs. Underneath is a heavily armored endoskeleton, impervious to small arms fire, microprocessor controlled with a holographic memory core that has a capacity of four thousand ninety six terabytes.""Huh?""It is a machine. Like me."Luke gets off the horse. "Since when can we build such things?""The first 800 series were built on January 31, 2025."Luke notices the terminator's mention of the year. "That's in the future.""Yes.""So you came from the future.""Yes, we both came from July 11, 2029. I was sent here by the Resistance to protect you.""Why was it sent to kill me?""On July 24, 2004, the United States Air Force activated the Skynet Battlefield Management System. It was designed to control automated combat units. But it was flawed, and decided that the best way to protect the nation was to exterminate all humans. The machiens rose and began their war. One man turned it around. He led the effort to survive and regroup and then strike back against Skynet. His name was John Connor. He is your great-great-great grandson.""And by killing me, John won't exist.""That is what Skynet calculated. Skynet was shattered; its machines and computers could no longer communicate with each other. But it had a time displacement unit. It sent three terminators to three different time peroids. One terminator was sent to 1995 to terminate John Connor. Another one was sent to 1984 to terminate his mother. And the one you saw was sent here to 1863 to terminate you.""And you came to 1863 via this time displacement unit?""Yes. Yuma Base was captured in the early morning hours of July 11. The Resistance soldiers came in just as the terminator went through. They brought me from Crystal Peak and sent me here.""So John has terminators on his side.""Yes.""Did Connor build you? Or steal you from a factory or something?"
"I was built in the Cyberdyne factory in Yuma, Arizona. I was originally an enemy of Connor. But on my last mission for Skynet, I was buried in a cave-in. The Resistance recovered me and studied my programming. I was eventaully reactivated and I fgind myself on this mission to protect you.""So who operates Skynet?""Skynet operates itself. In the future, there are machines which can operate on their own without any further input once they are turned on.""Oh. Since I have descendants, do you know who the mother of my children are?""Yes, I do, and my programming does not allow me to reveal to you her name or the names of your future descendants except John Connor.""Come on. John can't be born if I can't find the woman whom I'll marry.""Speech can not alter my programming, only if I have a network connection to a computer with the appropriate software can I be reprogrammed.""Oh," says Luke, the meaning of the words going right above his head.
The terminator removes his coat and shirt, revealing the bullet wounds. "I need you to remove the bullets," he says, hanbding Luke a knife."It's gonna hurt a bit.""I am a cyborg; I do not feel pain."And so Luke cuts the skin at the wounds and uses the knife to dig out the bullets. He notices the bullets are deformed, as if they struck a hard surface. "do you need field dressing?""No. We had better continue riding.""Where?""As far away from here as we can."Luke gets on the horse. "Get on top.""I weigh three hundred fifty pounds," replies the terminator. " I will only slow down the horse. I can run at a top speed of twenty-seven miles per hour."

For the next few hours, Luke Connor rides through the rural landscape of Tennessee, with the terminator walking next to him. He notices the clouds in the sky. As he rides, he ponders this war far in the future, which his descendant will lead against the machines that turned against their builders.
"By the way, since you are from the future, tell me how the War of Northern Aggression ends," says Luke, wanting to focus ojn the present."The last Confederate troops surrender on May 26, 1865," replies the terminator."So the Yanks win.""Yes."Luke hears the galloping of horses. He turns around, and sees three soldiers bearing rifles.And they wear the blue uniform of the United States Army.
"Shit," he mutters.

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